Trump, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk announce deal to lower obesity drug prices

President Donald Trump announced the following deals on Thursday: ellie lily and novo nordisk It’s cutting the prices of some obesity treatments, including one that’s about to hit the market, in a groundbreaking effort to expand access to costly blockbuster treatments.

The agreement would lower the prices of so-called GLP-1 drugs for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in 2026 and make the treatments available directly to consumers at discounted prices on a website called TrumpRx.gov, which the Trump administration is launching in January.

That means Medicare will begin covering obesity drugs for some patients for the first time in mid-2026, a long-awaited move that could expand the market for the drugs and encourage more private insurers to cover them. Certain Medicare patients pay a $50 monthly copayment for the use of all approved injectable and oral GLP-1 drugs, including for the treatment of diabetes and obesity.

The starting dose for an upcoming obesity drug from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, pending approval, will be $149 per month. A senior administration official, who declined to be named, told reporters at a briefing Thursday that this is for everyone who receives health care through Medicare, Medicaid or TrumpRx.

An oral version of Novo Nordisk’s obesity injection Wegovy could hit the market by the end of the year, while Eli Lilly’s pill, or forglipron, could hit the market next year. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it had awarded Eli Lilly birth control pills a priority review voucher that would speed up its review timeline.

Starting doses of existing injectables, such as Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound, cost $350 per month on TrumpRX, but will be “decayed” to $245 per month over two years, another senior administration official said at the briefing.

President Trump said in the Oval Office that Wegovy and Zepbound were not covered by Medicare for weight loss and “were barely covered by Medicaid.” “It was often costing consumers over $1,000 a month, and some much more than that. … That ends today.”

The deal is one of the most politically significant announcements to date in the Trump administration’s push to curb high U.S. drug prices by tying them to the lowest prices overseas. As part of the President’s “Most Favored Nation” policy, he announced the following deals: Pfizer, AstraZeneca EMD Serono sells certain drugs directly to patients at discounted prices in exchange for exemption from planned drug tariffs.

“This is the biggest drug in our country, and that’s why of all the (most favored nation) announcements we’ve made, it’s the most important,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a briefing. “This will have the greatest impact on the American people. It will ensure that all Americans, even those not on Medicaid or Medicare, get the same price for GLP-1 and their medications.”

Kennedy said expanding access would have a “dramatic impact on human health” in the United States, claiming the American public would lose £125 million by this time next year.

The event was postponed after a man standing behind Trump fainted.

The list price of existing obesity medications ($1,000 to $1,350 per month before insurance) is a significant barrier for patients, many of whom could benefit from their ability to promote weight loss and alleviate cardiovascular risk and other associated health complications, such as sleep apnea. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk already have programs to sell weight-loss drugs at discounted prices directly to consumers who pay cash, but the new deal appears to be an effort to take accessibility a step further.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have agreed to reduce the price Medicare pays for GLP-1, which it already covers for diabetes and other indications along with the obesity treatment, to $245 per month. The companies agreed to extend the government price reduction for GLP-1 drugs ($245 per month for all other non-starting doses) to all 50 Medicaid programs for all covered uses. States must choose these prices, which means some states may not.

But Medicare coverage can have a bigger impact on who gets the drug. That’s because the program covers about 66 million people and is the primary source of insurance for people age 65 and older. Coverage of new obesity medications will be activated through a pilot program designed to cover the majority of beneficiaries under Medicare Part D, the program’s prescription drug plan.

Another senior administration official said about 10% of Medicare beneficiaries would be eligible for GLP-1 for obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic benefits. Eligible patients are divided into three groups: The first includes people who are overweight, have a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or more, have pre-diabetes, or have cardiovascular disease.

The second group is people who are obese (BMI 30 or more) and have uncontrolled high blood pressure, kidney disease, or heart failure. The third group is severely obese patients or those with a BMI of 35 or more.

GLP-1 for weight loss is approved for a much broader population: people who are obese or overweight with one related condition. “We have worked hard to strike a balance between limiting access to patients who would clinically benefit,” an administration official said, “with broad access to ensure we have patients who will clinically benefit.”

As part of the deal, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk made promises similar to those made by other drugmakers as part of Trump’s favorite state contracts. The companies will guarantee MFN prices for every new drug they bring to market, provide those prices to all state Medicaid programs, provide at least net U.S. prices or MFN prices for nearly all primary care drugs under TrumpRx, and share savings from foreign drug price increases for existing products, a senior administration official said.

Also on Thursday, Eli Lilly said it would cut the price by $50 on its direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, which already offers Zepbound at a discount to cash-paying patients. Zepbound’s multi-dose pen is available for $299 per month for the lowest dose, with additional doses priced up to $449 per month.

Eli Lilly’s birth control pill, once approved, will be available in lowest doses starting at $149 per month.

“This transaction is a pivotal moment for U.S. health care policy and a defining milestone for Lilly,” Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said in a statement Thursday. It focuses on “improving outcomes, strengthening America’s health care system, and contributing to the health of our nation for generations to come.”

“Today’s announcement will make semaglutide medicine available to more U.S. patients at a lower cost,” Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar said in a separate statement. Semagluide is the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic.

This is not the first time the government has announced Medicare coverage for obesity medications. Former President Joe Biden proposed rules to allow the program to cover such care in the final days of his term, but the Trump administration last April refused to finalize the bill.

Biden’s proposal would have expanded access to about 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries. However, it was controversial at the time because it cost taxpayers a lot of money. $35 billion The results of the parliamentary analysis spanned nine years.

But some health experts argue that covering the drug could eliminate the downstream costs associated with treating obesity-related conditions.

Semaglutide is also included in the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022. Trump is expected to release new prices for the 15 drugs selected for the summit by November 30.

Tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and the diabetes shot Mounjaro, will not qualify for these negotiations until the end of the decade.